1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to providing a combination of a plate assembly and a soldering device for changing screens of circuit boards using soldering and a method of application thereof.
2. General Background
Any discussion of changing screens of circuit boards using soldering arouses several major issues. The first issue revolves around cost efficiency. Soldering has been used in the past for changing screens of circuit boards. However, apparatus used for soldering are very expensive. Different sets of alignment pins may be used to align layers of a plate assembly with respect to each other. In previous arrangements of pins in plate assemblies, removal and replacement of alignment pins has been time-consuming and labor-intensive. Usually, alignment pins are press-fitted into a number of plates of a plate assembly. As a result, when one alignment pin becomes bent, worn or broken, replacing the alignment pin is difficult and uneconomical. Thus, plate assemblies used for soldering of circuit boards are costly and many users of circuit boards tend to throw away a circuit board upon malfunctioning of a screen attached to the circuit board, even though the circuit board is more expensive than the screen.
Another issue is simplicity of transportation of soldering apparatus. Presently, soldering apparatus exist that are much larger and heavier than a tiny screen of a circuit board that is to be replaced. Said relatively large and heavy soldering apparatus limit transportation capabilities of said apparatus.
Other important issues relate to accuracy of locating and aligning of circuit boards and screens. Many arrangements for alignment pins result in rapid wear of the plates by the alignment pins, thus resulting in inaccurate alignments.
The issues discussed above have been ignored for a long time in production and marketing of soldering apparatus. It is believed that said issues have not been previously approached and solved by existing soldering apparatus.
3. Description of the Prior Art
Industry of soldering circuit boards has been developing over the past several decades. Some examples of the prior art is indicated in patents that have been issued in the past few decades and that are briefly discussed below.
Welsh et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,418, was registered on May 2, 1995. Welsh et al. discusses a method for fabricating a combination circuit board and connector that facilitates replacement of a single damaged contact. An installing tool having channels is moved towards the circuit board to press projecting board-received parts of the contacts into circuit board holes. Upon removal of the installing tool, the contacts are left behind with their forward parts projecting up from the circuit board. The connector is then fastened to the circuit board.
Williams, U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,448, was registered on Oct. 6, 1992, and patents an integrated circuit disassembly kit apparatus that comprises an anvil member, an anvil shank and a heating gun member. Various soldered components projected through a circuit board are disassembled using the anvil member. The anvil member is heated to cause elimination of associated soldering joints of each projecting tip of an associated electrical component directed through the circuit board.
Perko, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,966, patented on Oct. 24, 1989, presents a pressure transfer plate assembly for a heat bonding apparatus. Said apparatus is used to heat bond flexible printed circuits in a hydraulic press. The plate assembly has aluminum top and bottom plates with thin sheet liners in between. A plurality of workpiece-locating pins are based in stainless steel plug inserts in the bottom plate to give excellent wear resistance. A plurality of plate-alignment pins are used to align the top and bottom plates.
Nakamura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,840, was patented on Dec. 3, 1985. Nakamura patents a process and an apparatus for positioning and aligning dies on base plates. A pair of the base plates are assembled using jigs to be inserted into openings of the respective base plates. The base plates are accurately aligned in vertically parallel relationship. The upper base plate causes vertical reciprocal movement along the jigs to accurately locate and align the dies with respect to the base plates.
Auray et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,813,023, registered on May 28, 1974, describes a device for desoldering a plurality of soldered connections on a support member. The device comprises: a heat conductive member, a plurality of spaced cavities in a contact surface of the heat conductive member, and means for applying heat to said heat conductive member. Each cavity has a bottom and a wall made of material wettable by soldering. The width and depth of each cavity is sized so that melted solder is retained in the cavity by capillary action and acts as a heat conductive medium between the heat conductive member and unmelted solder.
Hammell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,189, was patented on Jan. 3, 1967. Hammell discloses a method for hand-wiring terminal boards having a multiplicity of posts to be interconnected.
Parstorfer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,649, registered on Apr. 9, 1963, describes a desoldering tip used in soldering irons for disconnecting soldered joints. Said desoldering tip comprises: a polygonally-shaped solid head portion constituting a plurality of faces and means carried by said head portion for connection of the desoldering tip to a hand-type soldering iron. Each face contains a plurality of recesses to minimize heat transfer to each printed circuit board when a heated desoldering tip is used.
Eversole, U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,612, patented on Aug. 21, 1962, discloses a desoldering tip for melting solder. Said desoldering tip comprises a thin main plate, said plate having a plurality of unobstructed openings arranged in positions corresponding to positions of the contacts of an electrical component and said plate forming a projection adjacent each of said unobstructed openings.
Although prior art acknowledges a variety of heat bonding and desoldering apparatus and plate assemblies and methods of application thereof, it is believed that prior existing heat bonding and desoldering apparatus and plate assemblies have not been previously used in conjunction with changing screens of circuit boards as efficiently and simply as the present invention is. None of the patents described briefly above discloses a combination of a plate assembly and soldering device for changing screens of circuit boards using soldering and a method of application thereof.